The Lithuanian government has begun constructing a steel border wall along its frontier with Belarus in order to stem the flow of illegal migrants.
The Baltic country began construction on the wall, which is an 11-foot high steel wall with razor wire above it, last week as part of an effort to halt the flow of illegals. The Lithuanian government has set aside €152 million (£130 million/$175 million) to complete the barrier, which is expected to stretch for 300 miles, by September of next year.
Virgilijus Raugale, the chief border guard in southern Lithuania, commented on the border wall project, saying in comments reported by Reuters on Thursday: “It’s probably impossible to build a totally unpassable obstacle, so I think that this barrier can too be overcome. But that would take a long time, and we would be able to react.”
In October alone, Lithuania has claimed that it prevented 2,300 migrants from entering the country. Before August, when border officials started returning migrants to Belarus, the country had seen over 4,000 people enter illegally.
Polish Lawmakers Back Border Wall with Belarus to Stop Surge of Migrants https://t.co/fHJcT3dgO1
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 30, 2021
The 300-mile border barrier will also include video surveillance equipment to monitor various areas.
Last week, Polish lawmakers agreed to fund their own border wall on their frontier with Belarus as well, granting €348 million (£298 million/$402 million) for its construction. The barrier is set to cover 250 miles.
Poland has also seen a surge of illegal migrant arrivals from Belarus in recent months, with the country declaring a state of emergency in the regions by the border in September.
Last month, the Polish parliament also passed laws allowing border guards to turn away migrants at the frontier and return them to the countries from which they came illegally. The legislation also states that authorities may ignore the asylum requests of those who have illegally crossed into Poland.
EU Commissioner: ‘Desperate’ Belarus Profiting From Migrant Crisis https://t.co/dXa3ZyDDbR
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) October 20, 2021
The situation on the Polish-Belarusian border remains tense, with fresh accusations by Poland that Belarus had staged an armed border intrusion on Monday, claiming that uniformed, armed Belarusians had crossed the border.
Poland then summoned Belarusian envoy Alexander Chesnovsky to explain the situation, the third time in a month Polish authorities have summoned the envoy.
On Friday, Poland accused a Belarusian soldier of attempting to fire flares at Polish border troops.
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